Stars
by clovespice0160
Summary: In the nighttime darkness, Shadow is reminded of a certain blonde girl, who won't leave his memories... Why do people have to die?


_Disclaimer: I do NOT own Sonic the Hedgehog or any Sonic the Hedgehog characters. I do NOT claim to own them. They belong to SEGA and their other respective owners._

* * *

The entire world was stolen away from Shadow.

Upon a hillside at the forest's edge he stands, frowning upon the intruding city lights in the distance. The park below is silent. Shadow watches the glimmering sparks, wondering if Maria resides somewhere among them in the sky…

_*-Maria cheerfully turned to Shadow, her golden hair swaying gently as she faced him. Her smile was perfection and her blue eyes shone like sea crystals. "What do you think of the stars, Shadow?" Her rich voice resembled a windchime, ringing with the slightest breeze and accenting the silence it left behind._

"_The stars?" Shadow blinked, looking back at the black ocean, dotted with distant shiplights. _

"_Yes, aren't they just wonderful!"_

_Shadow glance back at the stars after looking at Maria's equally bright smile. He nodded, smiling. "They are beautiful…"_

_Maria's heart overflowed in her resonate voice as she continued, "My Grandfather says that all our loved ones, all those who passed away move up there—to the sky. They take the form of stars and watch over us, lighting our way in the darkness so that we might be safe…"-*_

Shadow remembers her voice and the way it caressed his ears, his senses swept away through recollection. Every night, every day he had spent in suspended animation had meant another day of memories, of thoughts and of pain. Shadow witnessed her death for a hundred years, memorized her countenance a thousand times, and fed his loathing for a century. Her every good deed or word spoken echoed in his subconscious. She would creep up on him throughout the day, sometimes jumping in uninvited…. And he didn't know what to do. Whether he should welcome these apparitions or merely throw them away.

Shadow's chest tightened. _Maria…_

His fists clenched at his sides.

Looking back at the sky, he searches the sky for a star…. The star….. One far away, slightly pulsating catches his sight… _Maria…_

_Maria._

"SONIKKKU! COME BACK HERE!" A shrill voice almost shrieks. Shadow's quiet thoughts disappear.

He snarls at the noise, red eyes glaring menacingly at the occurrence below. The blue blur, appearing quite more like a navy blur in the nightlight, raced across the pavement, stopping by a park bench and bathed in light from the lamppost below.

"SONIC!" Amy's pink form contrasts to the surrounding darkness as she runs, trying to catch up to the escaping hedgehog.

Shadow turns away towards the forest, sneering. He didn't want to be a part of this… He takes a step toward the forest, resolving to find a place to sleep, despite knowing he would never truly sleep again.

Suddenly a blur shoots past him.

"Cya, Shads!"

Shadow sneers at the spot the blue blur had been moments before, when he is suddenly tackled from behind. "Oh, Sonic! I thought you would never slow down!" Amy's smothers her enthusiastic voice voice into his shoulder as her arms squeeze around his waist in a tight hug. Shadow only frowns, but his memories invade his thoughts—

_-*Shadow sped down the metal halls with a smirk, reaching the other side in a flash. He sighed and looked back for a minute, until he was suddenly attacked from behind._

"_Ha, ha, ha, ha," Maria's laugh twinkled in the air, "I finally caught you, Shadow!" Her arms hugged his waist. "I thought you would never slow down," she teased, as the two engaged in a tickle fight.-*_

Shadow merely smiles, tracing imaginary circles on the girl's arm across his tummy. Smirking, he surges forward, breaking her hold, and swivels around to face the girl with a light in his eyes. He prepares to launch on her in another tickle fight when he, already halfway through the motion, realizes that it's a different girl in front of him. He quickly twists in the air, as Amy's eyes widen. Shadow almost misses the hedgehog, but ends up barreling into her shoulder as they both tumble down the hill.

Finally, at the bottom, Amy lands on top of Shadow, eyes closed from the fall. They lay in an upside-down Y-shape, with Amy's arms on Shadow's chest, and their legs branching off into two different directions. Amy opens her eyes and jolts, sprawling away from Shadow. Her mouth hangs agape as Shadow merely lays there, not moving a muscle as he stares into the sky.

"Ah—Bu—Bu—Bu—Bu-" Amy tries to start, but is still a little too shocked to utter anything coherent.

He blushes slightly as he rolls onto his side, facing away from Amy.

...

Amy speaks at last, "Shadow—"

"Forget about it." He cuts her off, rising as he walks off with an air of melancholy.

"Shadow—"

He halts, all of a sudden, surprising the pink hedgehog.

"Why do people die?"

_-*Maria leaned back after reading a passage from the Bible, her smile remaining on her face as she glanced down at the small black hedgehog in her lap._

_The little hedgehog's innocent red eyes peered up at the blonde girl with curiosity and confusion. "—But, Maria, if God is so good and loves all of his people, then why does he let people die?"_

_Maria's eyebrows raised; she was surprised that such a small hedgehog could observe and realize so much… "Well," she started carefully, "Adam and Eve took the apple from the tree of knowledge…."_

"_I know that," Shadow replied, "but why does he still let people die?"_

"_Well," Maria bit her lip in thought. Shadow merely gazed up at Maria, who was trying to reach a conclusion, and was for once never really satisfied with her answer.-*_

Shadow's question lingers in the cold sky.

He stares up at Maria's star and then turns to the pink hedgehog as he hears her start to speak.

Amy blinks, answering without hesitation, "Well, people die so they can leave their life on Earth, and their soul can go to heaven."

Shadow's heart stops beating for a second, as the words register in his mind.

_Maria…_

Suddenly, Shadow's arms are around Amy, who gasps, at the unexpected hug. "Thank you, Amy Rose."

And before another instant passes, he is gone.

* * *

_Author's Note: _Here's another one of my old stories, something I just ended up writing, and... I never particularly liked how it ended, but I know there were some people online who did and who enjoyed it and thought I should repost it... As for my other stories that I deleted... I'm not so sure about them. Some of them I may post, but probably not anytime soon... We'll see.

Thanks for reading! ^^


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